An attacker opened fire on a light rail train in San Francisco on Wednesday morning, killing one person during an argument and injuring a bystander before running out of the train, the authorities said.
The San Francisco Police Department received a call around 10 a.m. about a shooting at the Forest Hill station on the Muni Metro, the city’s public rail system, Officer Kathryn Winters told reporters on Wednesday. When the officers arrived, they found that the train had left the station and was heading toward the Castro station, one stop northeast of the Forest Hill station, Officer Winters said.
“Most of the people from the train exited the train quickly,” Officer Winters said, adding that the police were unsure of how crowded the train or station had been at the time of the shooting.
When the police arrived at the Castro station, they found two victims, Officer Winters said. The San Francisco Fire Department said in a statement on Wednesday that it treated two victims “with penetrating injuries” at the station.
One victim died at the scene, despite receiving emergency care by the police and emergency workers, and another victim was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, Officer Winters said. Myrna Melgar, the supervisor for San Francisco’s District 7, said on Twitter that the assailant ran out of the train at the Castro station.
The shooting happened as the train was leaving the Forest Hill station, Ms. Melgar said in a later statement, quoting the police. The assailant and a victim “were in a heated verbal argument,” she said, and witnesses heard three or four gunshots. One person was killed, and a bystander was taken to a hospital with a knee injury.
“This appears to be an isolated incident,” Officer Winters told reporters at the scene, adding that no arrests had been made.
The Police Department said in a statement that the shooting did not appear to have targeted the L.G.B.T.Q. community or have any connection to Pride events taking place in the city this week.
The department did not know whether there was a relationship between the shooter and the victims, Officer Winters said.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management told residents to avoid the area because of police activity.
The police were working to retrieve security video recorded at the station, Officer Winters said.
The shooting happened weeks after voters in San Francisco recalled the city’s progressive district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in part over perceptions that crime in the city was on the rise.
The city has been facing persistent property crimes, especially car break-ins and burglaries, but data from the Police Department shows that many other types of crime, including homicides, have been stable or have declined during the pandemic.
